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Published: 25 May 2012

Majority of comprehensive school pupils study English

According to Statistics Finland, English was the most commonly studied foreign language on grades 1 to 6 of comprehensive school in the autumn semester of 2011. Sixty-six per cent of the pupils attending grades 1 to 6 studied English either as a compulsory or optional foreign language. The percentages of pupils studying other foreign languages remained at 4 per cent or below. A total of 347,245 pupils attended grades 1 to 6. 178,209 of the pupils were boys and 169,036 were girls.

Language choices of comprehensive school pupils in 2011

  Compulsory language A1 Optional language A2 Compulsory language B1 Elective language B2 Total Share of pupils in grades 1-6 % Share of pupils in grades 7-9 %
Grades Studied language              
Grades 1-6 English 216 282 14 032 - - 230 314 66.3 -
Swedish 2 733 12 536 - - 15 269 4.4 -
Finnish 14 066 994 - - 15 060 4.3 -
French 2 312 4 764 - - 7 076 2.0 -
German 2 920 9 908 - - 12 828 3.7 -
Russian 924 1 139 - - 2 063 0.6 -
Spanish 177 700 - - 877 0.3 -
Italian 0 0 - - 0 0.0 -
Sami 0 192 - - 192 0.1 -
Other 220 30 - - 250 0.1 -
Grades 7-9 English 166 152 13 122 236 96 179 606 - 99.4
Swedish 2 906 11 935 151 705 7 166 553 - 92.2
Finnish 9 430 1 176 222 0 10 828 - 6.0
French 1 144 3 517 223 6 358 11 242 - 6.2
German 1 600 8 162 309 9 181 19 252 - 10.7
Russian 522 449 - 2 117 3 088 - 1.7
Spanish 0 306 - 2 781 3 087 - 1.7
Italian 0 0 - 57 57 - 0.0
Sami 0 34 - 14 48 - 0.0
Latin 0 0 - 490 490 - 0.3
Other 37 0 - 57 94 - 0.1

Nearly all pupils attending grades 7 to 9 studied both English and Swedish or Finnish either as mother tongue, or as a compulsory, optional or elective foreign language. German was studied by 11 per cent and French by 6 per cent of the pupils attending grades 7 to 9, mainly as an optional or elective foreign language. A total of 180,715 pupils attended grades 7 to 9. 92,263 of the pupils were boys and 88,452 were girls.

Data on the language choices of students studying comprehensive education elsewhere than at comprehensive schools (1,425) are published in the database table of these statistics.


Source: Education. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Irma Suovirta 09 1734 3280, Maija Sikanen 09 1734 2292, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Deputy director in charge: Marja Tammilehto-Luode

Publication in pdf-format (236.3 kB)

Tables

Appendix tables


Updated 25.5.2012

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Subject choices of students [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-1056. Subject choices of comprehensive school pupils 2011. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 29.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ava/2011/02/ava_2011_02_2012-05-25_tie_001_en.html